| |
"Rooster
is up to his old tricks again," sighed Harriet Holstein.
"If we don't find him soon, it will be one of those days
again. By the way, who's that boy standing over there?"
Dasher Hound, who knew absolutely everything about what happened
on the farm, looked over and saw a young {boy/girl} walking
around the barn. "If my eyes don't deceive me,"
said Dasher excitedly, "I think it's {child's name or
nickname} {child's last name}, that famous child detective.
I've heard that {he/she} has solved more mysteries in {child's
age} years than Sherlock Holmes solved in his lifetime. This
could be our lucky day."
"Lucky
day!" sighed Harriet Holstein again. "You must be
kidding. Do you remember the last time Rooster disappeared?
Why, Penny Pig was so angry about missing her breakfast that
she didn't speak to Rooster for 3 days, and you know how much
Penny Pig likes to talk!" "Hey, here comes {child's
name or nickname}," said Dasher. "{he/she} looks
cool."
The
animals turned to greet {child's name or nickname}. "Welcome
to our farm," said Dasher. "I've heard that you
are one of the best detectives in the whole world. I have
a nose for these things, you know." "You have a
nose for everything," kidded Penny. "In fact, there's
enough nose on you to share with everyone on the farm."
Dasher didn't mind making jokes about his own nose. However,
he did mind it when others made jokes at his expense. "Silence!"
he shouted at Penny. "At least I have a nose."
Dasher
turned back to {child's name or nickname}. "We have a
major problem here," he explained. "You see, Rooster
has disappeared and when that happens the farm, well, the
farm kind of falls apart. Rooster knows this and he likes
to hide and make everyone look for him. But no one has ever
found him - he's just too clever. Perhaps a world famous detective,
such as yourself, could find him."
{child's
name or nickname} looked at the worried faces of Dasher, Penny
and Harriet. "But why don't you just wait for Rooster
to come out of his hiding place?" {he/she} asked, puzzled.
"And you call yourself a detective!" wailed Charlene
Chicken who had just arrived to join the conversation. "We
can't wait. Don't you know what happens when Rooster isn't
here?" {child's name or nickname} didn't know. But that
didn't matter. "I'd love to help," said {child's
name or nickname} happily. "And so will {names of friends}."
"If only I knew why this is so important," {he/she}
whispered to {himself/herself}.
{child's
name or nickname} asked Dasher to gather the farm animals
for an important meeting. Everyone was soon in attendance.
There was Charlene Chicken, Penny Pig, Harriet Holstein, Rhonda
Rabbit, Cheshire Charlie, Hoot Owl and Clydesdale. Dasher
didn't waste any time getting to the point. "Rooster
is hiding," he said.
"Not
again!" shrieked Cheshire Charlie. "Why us!"
cried Rhonda Rabbit. The other animals moaned and whined.
"No problem," said Hoot Owl. "I'll do the job."
This only made everyone moan and whine louder. Dasher finally
shouted to get everyone's attention. "We are going to
find Rooster," he said. "Right here, right now,
right on this farm, is {child's name or nickname} {child's
last name}, the world famous detective. {he/she} has come
here from {Hometown} and has promised to find Rooster."
"No I didn't," protested {child's name or nickname}
to no avail. "I said I'd try to find Rooster." No
one heard him. All the animals were cheering wildly. The pressure
was on {child's name or nickname}.
Detective
{child's name or nickname} put on {his/her} thinking cap.
Well, it wasn't really a thinking cap, just {his/her} favorite
old hat, but {he/she} always had better ideas when {he/she}
wore it. More importantly, {he/she} looked awesome in it.
{child's name or nickname} turned slowly to {names of friends}. "I have a plan," {he/she} said. "Let's go to
the pond."
Four
ducks were swimming in the pond. {child's name or nickname}
looked at them very, very closely. Three ducks were good swimmers,
while one seemed to be struggling to stay afloat. "Do
you know where I can find Rooster?" {he/she} asked. "It's
not possible to find Rooster," the duck replied. "No
one ever has, and no one ever will find him. He's too clever." {child's name or nickname}'s eyebrows twitched. This always
happened when {he/she} discovered a clue.
Next
they walked to a field where some crows were hurriedly eating
their dinner, while Scarecrow took one of his frequent naps. "Can I ask you crows a question?" began {child's
name or nickname}. "Does anyone know where Rooster is?"
"Everything is not always as it seems," said one
crow. Just then Scarecrow opened his eyes. All the crows flew
away, except the one who had talked to {child's name or nickname}.
He ran away. {child's name or nickname}'s eyebrows twitched.
Then
{child's name or nickname} went with {names of friends} to
visit the pig pen. Penny Pig was glad to see them and started
talking excitedly. {child's name or nickname} scanned the
pen and turned {his/her} attention to a rather thin looking
pig. "Do you know where I can find Rooster?" {he/she}
asked. "No one on this farm knows where Rooster is,"
the pig answered. "But I'll give you a clue. Rooster
is never far from the action."
The
next stop was the barn where all the cows were settling down
for the night. {child's name or nickname} walked around the
stalls, carefully watching where {he/she} stepped. {he/she}
turned to a cow standing close to Harriet Holstein and asked, "Why is everyone so upset about Rooster not being here?"
"That would be obvious," the cow replied, "if
you lived on a farm. Why, without Rooster, these poor cows,
whoops, I mean, us poor cows would have too long a night's
sleep, our udders would fill up with milk, and we would be
very uncomfortable." {child's name or nickname}'s eyebrows
twitched again.
"Where
are we going next?" asked {names of friends}. "To
visit the horses," replied {child's name or nickname},
"and watch where you step when we get there." {child's
name or nickname} did not know everything about life on a
farm, but {he/she} did know about watching {his/her} step
around cows and horses.
The
horses seemed restless. Clydesdale was nervously pacing back
and forth, his big hooves making large footprints in the dirt.
Another horse was pecking corn off the ground. {child's name
or nickname}'s eyebrows twitched rapidly. The horse, who was
eating corn, suddenly realized that {child's name or nickname}
was watching. Quickly he turned his attention to a pile of
hay. {child's name or nickname} turned to Dasher. "Please
ask the other animals to meet me in front of the barn, and
make sure the sheep are there." "I will," replied
Dasher, "if they are not in the baa-throom." Dasher
laughed at his own joke as he went out to gather the animals.
All
the animals gathered in front of the barn, but {child's name
or nickname} was nowhere to be seen. The sheep were very calm,
except for one, who kept looking nervously back and forth.
Suddenly, one of the sheep stood up on two legs. "This
is unusual," said Clydesdale in a slow drawl. "Sheep
can't stand on two legs." He was right. It was really
{child's name or nickname} in disguise. "Guess what,"
{he/she} said. "Someone else is also in disguise." {he/she} pulled a mask off a startled Rooster. He had been
caught!
"How
did you solve the case?" asked a disappointed Rooster.
"No one has ever done that before." "It was
easy," replied {child's name or nickname}. "You
had trouble swimming like a duck, you didn't fly away like
the other crows, you were too thin to be a pig, and horses
don't peck corn. Case closed." "Rooster is found!"
shouted the farm animals. "Now he will wake us up tomorrow.
He has the most important job on the farm." Detective
{child's name or nickname} had saved the farm. {he/she} had
also discovered why Rooster was so important.
The
next morning at 5:37 a.m. Rooster woke up. Several minutes
later, everyone else was awake thanks to a rather vigorous
cock-a-doodle-doo. Owl closed his eyes and went to sleep. "I could have done that," he said. "No one
gives a hoot about my feelings." |
|
|
